A True Friend
by Ginny-Potter1981
Summary: An conversation overheard by Severus Snape prompts him and Remus Lupin to check up on Harry Potter. Discovering the boy-who-lived is in fact being abused they join forces to ensure Harry is brought up in a better environment.


**A True Friend**

**Welcome to the new and improved version of A True Friend. After much discussion and consideration, we have decided to scrap the original version and re-write it from the beginning, and to comply with FanFiction-dot-net's requirements, there will be no original dialogue quoted in this story. **

**To those of you who care, and those who don't, this will evolve into a Harry/Ginny fic because we are both die-hard Harry/Ginny shippers. If you have any objection to that, please walk away now. There will also be some mild to heavy bashing of certain characters. If this offends you, don't read it. **

**Disclaimer: All characters in the Harry Potter world belong to J.K. Rowling. We make no money with this story. We just have a lot of fun writing it the way we want. lol. This is not a cannon fic don't like don't read. Written by Ginny-Potter1981 and Cosmyk Angel.**

**_-PROLOGUE-_**

October 27, 1984 – Scotland

Severus opened the door of the infirmary carefully with his backside, the case of potions clutched tightly in his arms. As he backed through the door, he could hear female voices raised in argument from the office.

"And when was I supposed to have checked on the boy? I don't even know where he lives. Who told you I had seen him? I've been trying to get my hands on him for the last 3 years!" Poppy's voice was highly agitated.

"Albus said you saw him a week before the term started. I was going to check on him, but Albus said not to worry about it, that you had seen to him and there were no lasting effects." Severus was surprised to hear Minerva sounding so hysterical.

"You must have misheard him. I asked him about the boy just the other day and he said he'd taken him to St. Mungos to be checked out before he left him with Lily's sister." Poppy replied, sounding confused.

"Hagrid brought him straight from the wreckage on the first of November. He said he borrowed Black's bike and that muggles were starting to gather around. If Albus had taken him to St. Mungos, he would never have returned the child to the house," Minerva's voice had also taken on a puzzled tone.

Severus was beginning to suspect they were talking about Harry Potter and he was not liking the tone of the conversation, but knew neither of the women in the room trusted him enough to take him into their confidence. He would have to do things the Slytherin way. Placing the box on one of the empty beds, he silently exited the room.

2 days later

Severus grimaced as he swallowed the last potion and then heaved a sigh of relief. One more hour and the effects of the confundus should be completely gone from his system. He hadn't believed it at first. Why would the headmaster have told Poppy & Minerva different stories? Why had he himself never been curious about the boy or wondered where he was? It wasn't until he had returned to his chambers and cast a series of diagnostic spells on himself that he realized not only had someone placed a Confundus charm on him, he had also been obliviated.

Finding out these things had happened really pissed him off and he was determined to find out what was being hidden from him. His lost memories should be returning soon. It was a good thing that the Anti-Confundus potion and the Memory Restoration potion were compatible. He was just glad he'd had enough powdered Forget-Me-Not on hand to brew the 2nd potion so that he did not have to wait longer to remove all adverse effects on himself. He lay prone on his rug and waited for the potions to take effect. While waiting for the potions to take effect he fell asleep and started dreaming about being hurt and scared. He did not feel like himself and wondered where the feelings were coming from.

Upon waking up from his dreams about a hurt and scared little boy, Severus found himself even more pissed off then when he found out someone had been casting spells on his person. His memories of asking the location of Harry Potter so he could fulfill his promise to Harry's parents and being pretty much ignored or obliviated by Dumbledore made him so angry that he destroyed his chambers in a wild burst of uncontrolled magic the likes of which he had not experienced since he was a very young boy.

After all of his memories had returned Severus contemplated what he would do next. He knew he had to find out Harry Potter's location which he was sure Dumbledore had entrusted to Hagrid as he knew Dumbledore trusted Hagrid with his life and his secrets. Recalling the conversation he had overheard between the two women in the infirmary he realized that Hagrid would be his best chance of discovering the location of little Harry. How to get him to reveal that information would be another challenge all together. After much consideration and thought he realized the best way to glean the information he needed from the half giant would be to get him drunk.

October 31, 1984- Feast in honor of Harry Potter day.

Severus' preoccupation with the situation had him so distracted that twice he had accidentally written the wrong ingredients for his seventh year advanced potions class on the board. This put him in a rather foul mood which had him docking points from his own house astonishing the group of seventh year students who were working on creating a complex potion. So preoccupied was he that he completely forgot that it was Harry Potter day and walked unprepared into the Great Hall.

By the time he arrived Hagrid was already deep into his cups. Seeing this as an opportunity he could not pass up he decided he would interrogate Hagrid later that night once Hagrid had returned to his cabin. Eager to escape the noise of the Great Hall he retreated to his office to eat his meal in peace. As he was working his way through a rather savory stew that had been provided for him by the house elves he perused the latter he had composed to his friend earlier that day. As he was looking over the letter he realized that Remus might have been placed under the same charms and compulsions that Dumbledore had placed upon him. He knew that stronger measures would be necessary to remind Remus of their friendship.

The small grandfather clock on his mantel struck 11 o-clock just as he finished the package he had prepared. Shrinking it down he attached it to the leg of his familiar Hugin with instructions to deliver it to Remus Lupin and to insure that he did not just leave the package and fly off he directed Hugin to remain and wait for a response . He then added an extra spurt of magic to sustain his little friend in case he had to journey far to find the reclusive Marauder. With his package sent he slowly made his way down to Hagrid's hut with a fifty-year old bottle of single malt firewhiskey. He'd originally ordered the bottle for himself as he did every year at this time.

April 7, 1985- Hogsmead, Scottland

Severus slouched in a darkened corner of the Shrieking Shack impatiently awaiting the arrival of Remus Lupin who he had been trading letters with since shortly after his package had been delivered. Severus had chosen the location specifically because he knew they would have no chance of being overheard. He was unprepared therefore for the giggles and whispers approaching from the hallway. He disillusioned himself seconds before the door opened revealing a group of giggling Gryffindor girls. He was just about to reveal himself and demand to know what they were doing there when a blood curdling howl filled the room sending the girls shrieking out of the building, tumbling over each other in their haste to leave, and causing the hair on the back of his neck to prickle. He could feel his hand shaking as he reached for his wand and was surprised therefore to hear a deep chuckle from the opposite corner of the room, as Remus Lupin suddenly revealed himself to the startled potions master.

"Merlin's pants! Lupin!" He snarled contemplating when he would have the best chance to slip a laxative into Lupin's hot chocolate.

"Well it is called the shrieking shack just for that reason isn't it my friend. Besides it ensured that neither of us would be seen in such a location." A still laughing Remus replied.

"You do have a point there my friend. Let us get down to business shall we." Severus proposed seriously.

"I could hardly believe it when I received you package and letter. It took a little while for your potions to take effect because of my furry little problem getting in the way. Although I think the transformation actually sped up the process so perhaps there is something good that came out of my condition after all." Remus said wryly.

"I learned from the half giant that little Harry was taken from Sirius by Hagrid under Dumbledore orders and placed in the care of Petunia." Severus snarled.

"OUR CUB WAS PLACED WHERE?" Remus snarled his eyes flashing gold. "I always thought it would have been us helping Black raise little Harry. I could hardly believe it when Sirius was convicted of betraying Lily and James."

"He didn't." Severus replied almost absently.

"I know you want to think that my friend I thought it as well but the evidence is incontrovertible. After all the only thing they found of Peter was a single finger." Remus said sadly.

"Exactly!" Severus exclaimed. "When have you ever heard of a blasting curse completely destroying a body? Besides I know for a fact that Sirius was not the secret keeper. And Dumbledore himself oversaw the change in secret keepers."

"What are you talking about my friend? Have your wits been totally addled?" Remus shouted.

"Of course not I know for a fact that Dumbledore knew that Sirius was innocent and still allowed him to be sent to Azkaban." Severus snarled pacing back and forth in agitation.

Remus surged forward and gripped his friend by the arm, turning him towards him. "What? How do you know that?"

"Because I told him myself right after witnessing Pettigrew," he spat the name before continuing, "giving a private report to the dark lord after a death eater meeting. Dumbledore forced me to keep that knowledge a secret as part of our agreement to keep me out of Azkaban so I could continue spying for him. He even went so far as to obliviate me afterwards. It was only your comment about Sirius that jogged my memory."

Remus stared at him in shock for several minutes his mouth opening and closing silently before finding his voice. "HE DID WHAT?" The wolf again emerging in his voice and eyes.

"You do realize my friend that even if we went to the ministry with this knowledge they would completely ignore it as it would reflect badly on several high ranking ministry officials, including our dear minister. As soon as we have insured that Lily's sister is taking good care of Harry we can decide how we are going to help Sirius."

"So what is the plan?" Remus asked.

"First we have to locate little Harry then we make sure he is being treated well. If not we remove him from his situation." Severus replied.

"And you have no idea where to find him?" Remus enquired.

"The half giant was unable to remember where they took Harry except that it was someplace in Surrey. So that gives us a place to start looking. If he ever knew the location it is probable that Dumbledore obliviated him as well." Severus explained.

"Surrey is a big place and we don't even know what Petunia's married name is. We will have to go to the national archives and start our search there. But before we do we will need to have a place set up a base from which to work." Remus proposed.

"We can use my home as a base from which to work, unfortunately it has been left neglected since the death of my parents. If you would like you may stay there while we conduct our investigation." Severus offered.

"That sounds wonderful and I will even start to clean the place up and you can join me once Hogwarts is out for the summer." Remus suggested with gratitude.

After giving Remus the location and passwords to enter into his house Severus left to heard his charges back to Hogwarts.

May 21, 1985-Spinner's End, England.

Remus having spent the better part of a month and a half sterilizing and repairing Severus' old house was ready for a break. He decided he was going to take a long walk through the neighborhood. As he was walking he happened upon an advertisement by a Marjorie Dursley who was selling Bulldog puppies, figuring he could use a companion to keep him from going completely stir crazy he decided to check the puppies out. The first thing he noticed upon his arrival was the smell. And the conditions that met his eyes were just as appalling this was obviously a puppy mill and not a high class dog breeding establishment. To make matters worse Marjorie Dursley was a mean ugly woman weighing over 300 pounds who made no bones about the fact that her puppies were the best because she always drowned the weakest of the litter, just like my brother should have drowned that mutt his wife took in after all bad blood should never be allowed to breed. He left the place in a hurry determined to put that horrible woman with her unsavory puppy mill out of his mind.

May 24, 1985- National Archives, London, England.

After two and a half months of searching Remus was getting rather frustrated with his lack of progress and had just about gotten to the point where he was ready seek muggle assistance when Severus came striding into the room with his steaming cup of Starbucks coffee.

"Still drinking that swill are you? What ever happened to a good old cup of tea?" Remus teased his friend.

"How else do you expect me to get through the day with all of those dunderheads I am forced to teach every year?" Severus snarked playfully.

"Have you ever considered decaf?" Remus asked with a grin.

"How any times do I have to tell you that decaf is for losers." Severus responded taking a deep gulp of his coffee wincing slightly when it burned his throat.

"I have little to report as I am finding it difficult to make heads or tails of the muggle filing system. After all they cannot file things in alphabetical order like we wizards do." Remus grumbled.

After a hearty laugh at Remus, Severus pulled up a chair and proceeded to instruct his friend in the fine art of muggle filing.

After a couple of weeks of poring through marriage records Remus jumped to his feet an expression of surprise erupting from him.

"I think I found something. Is this what we are looking for?" Remus asked waving the document in front of Severus' face causing him to go cross eyed as he attempted to focus on the waving papers.

"If you would hold the papers still I might be able to answer that." Severus stated removing his spectacles to rub his eyes after peering at tiny print for several hours strait a moment later he replaced the eye glasses and peered closely at the documents Remus was holding.

Remus handed Severus the document smirking slightly as he knew the potions master would never admit to the weakness of needing glasses to read really fine print to anyone other than his close friends. Just poring over the multitude of documents with their fine print was giving Remus a headache.

After examining the documents for a few minutes they now had a place to start with Petunia's married name. it was only as Remus was replacing the document in a folder that he noticed the signatures at the bottom of the page and realized he recognized one of names. Marjorie Dursley's name was printed bold as you please in the witness section of the papers. Remus remembered the woman from his encounter with her only a few days before. "Severus come look at this." He gestured to the potions master.

"And just what am I supposed to be looking at Remus?" Severus snarked testily as his head was starting to throb.

"You remember I told you about an odious woman and her nasty puppy mill. Her name is on this document as a witness it is quite possible she might be related to Petunia's husband Vernon."


End file.
